Truss



(Model.)

H. S. GREENO.

TRUss.

No. 397,545. Patented Peb. 12, 1889.

UNiTnn STATES aTnNT Prion.

HARRIS S. GREENO, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

TRUSS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,545, dated February l2, 1889.

Application filed November 5, 1888. Serial No. 289,973. (Model.)

"o all whom t 11mg/ concern/ Be it known that 1, HARRIS S. GREENO, of St. Louis, Missouri,have made a newand useful Improvement in Tri-isses, ofwhich the followingl is a full, clear, and exact description.

The improvement relates, mainly, to ai r-pad trusses; and it consists, partly, in the means tor increasing the elasticity and accommodativeness of the pad,partly to the relative construction ot the pad and its holder, and partly to t-he means for adapting the pad-holder and pad to any of the truss springs and belts commonly in use, substantially as is hereinafter set forth and claimed, aided by the annexed drawings, making part oi' this specification, in which- Figure l is a view in perspective olf the padholder; Fig. 2, a view in perspective oi' the pad; Fig. f3, a section olf the pad and holder on the line il il of Fig. Jr, which in turn is a section ol' the same parts in the line al l ot' Fig. Fl, and Fig. 5, a view in perspective oli' the improved pad and holder attached to a truss-sprin The same letters ol rel'ercuce denote the same parts.

The air-pad already upon the market is objectiona ble by reason ot' its insutlieient elasticity. That portion of the pad with which the pad-holder is immediately connected is so made and so united with the holdel as virtit ally to be about as rigid as the holder itself. The connect-ion with the holder is also such as to cause the pad to wear aud break away at the point olconnection, and the lite ol the pad in consequence to be prematurely terniinated. These (liltculties are la1'gely,itl not entirely, overcome and an limproved truss obtained by means of the present construction.

A represents the pad. It is hollow, to be inflated with air, and made of an elastic materialmsuch as rubberand that portion, a, of it which is turned toward the body ot' the patient, and which maybe termed the face of the pad, is of any ot' the customary shapes. The opposite portion or back, ai', of the pad, on the other hand, differs materially :from the corresponding portion of previously constructed air-pads. In place of being flat it is crowned, so that the central portion, a?, of the back projects more than its peripheral portion. A shank, d, project l rom its central portion. rlhe shank ispreterablyquite narrow iu one directimi, as shown in Fig. C5, and long in the opposite direction, as shown in Fig. i, and at or toward its outer end the shank is provided with a head, preferably in the form of the flange o". rlhe shank is preferably integral with the main port-ion of the pad, and is thus of elastic material.

l represeiiits the pad-holder,which in practice is of metal. lts main portion I) is a fiat plate adapted to be. pressed against the back of the pad. It is slotted at b to enable the plate to be passed onto the shank. lln thus attaching the plate advantage is taken of the yielding quality of the material ot' which the shank is composed, so that it is unnecessary to widen the slot b to the width of the tia-nge er1, and hence the prin cipal portion ofthe slot is only as wide as the neck of the shank; but at one ol? the ends the slot is widened, as at b2, to the width ol the .flange at. rlhe plate is attached by passing the widened portion oli' the slot onto the shaulciiauge and slipping the plate endwise and downward upon the shank until the plate has been passed below the .tlange di* and onto the neck ot' the shank, as shown in Fig. l. The other parts of the pad-holderare a bridge, h3, which is attached to the plate and extiimds over the pad-shank, a catch, o1, pivoted to the plate at h5, and thereby adaijited to be turned around, as indicated by its two positions, (shown, respectively, in Figs. l and 5,) and. notched .at b to enable the catch, when turned into the position of Fig. 5, to receive and grip the padshank and thereby secure the holder from slimjiiug cndwise upon the pad-shank, and a clamp-screw, if, which engages in the bridge and is used to attach the holder to the spring or belt ot' the truss. The entire truss is not showu,'as the unrepresented portion is unnecessary to an understanding ot the imvantage, as thereby the benefits of my iinproved pad and holder can be obtained in conjunction with almost any variety of truss which may be preferred by the patient. 3y reason of the convexity of its back the pad is rendered doubly elastic. ln using itnot only does its face, but the back also, oi' the pad yields elastically to pressure. 'lhcbaek yields until the holder-plate comes to a bearing upon the back, as represented in Fig. 4, and then the face of the pad can yield farther. As the l'iolder-plate works toward and from the padback, no part of the pad is compressed 'or drawn in a way calculated to work an injury tothe pad. Owing to the shape and ilexibility of the pad-shank and the manner of connecting the holder therewith, the pad can in applying it be readily turned, so that its back is out ot.' parallel with the holder-plato,

or the back ot the padmay be adjusted lobe j as described.

parallel with the ln lderplate- Theabove-described construetioil-namely, i

thecoinbinatimi of: the air-pad, the padholder, and the clainp-serew-I have put,` upon the niarket as an article oli' inerehanl dise to be sold to go with any of the ori'linary truss springs or belts,

I claiin l. The combination,

substantially as described, of the air-pad land the pad-holder, l

said air-pad havingl the rubber shank fri, integral. with the pad, and said pad-holder having the slotted plate b.

The combination, substantially as der.

scribed, of the air-pad having the convex back and the shank having' the i'iange, with the pad-holder composed of the plate Z), slotted at D b2, the bridge b3, and the pivoted notched catch b".

LL. The combination of the air-pad having' the convex back andthe shank, the padh ol der having the slotted plate and the bridge, and the clamp-screw, said shank being of rubber and integral with said pad, substantially The combination 'oli' the air-pad having' 'the convex back and the shank having a head, the pad-holder composed of the slotted plate, the bridge, and the pivoted notched catch, and the clamp-scrmv, substantially as described.

\Vtness my hand.

HARRS S. GREEN 0.

\\'itnesses:

C. D. MooDY, D. W. A. SANFORD. 

